1. Language Arts Connecticut Mastery Test By Grace Romano

2. Testing Times Reading Comprehension 5 th and 6 th Grade 7 passages 31 responses 3 reading contexts Completed in two 45 minute sessions 7 th and 8 th Grade 7 passages 30 responses 3 reading contexts Completed in two 45 minute sessions

3. Context for Reading  Reading for Literary Experience  Reading for Information  Reading to perform a Task (5-8 th Only)

4. Testing Times Editing and Revising 5th and 6 th Grade 4 passages 60 minutes Editing: 18 mc Revising: 18 mc total =36 60 minutes divided by 36mc = 1.67 7 th and 8 th Grade 4 passages 60 minutes Editing: 20 mc Revising: 20 mc total = 40 mc 60 minutes divided by 40mc= 1.50 15 minutes per passage Each question is asking different skill Students are to complete the entire test

5. Testing Times Direct Assessment of Writing 5 th -8 th 1 writing prompt 45 minutes

6. Testing Times DRP 5 th and 6 th Grade 7 passages 49 responses 45 minutes 7 th and 8 th Grade 7 passages 49 responses 45 minutes 45 minutes divided by 49 responses =.92 of a minute per responses Roughly 6.4 minutes per passage DRP passages become progressively more difficult Students are to complete the entire test

7. Readability Guidelines for Grades 5 -8 Both reading comprehension and DRP o Grade 5 passages will range between 5.5 and 6.5 o Grade 6 passages will range between 6.5 and 7.5 o Grade 7 passages will range between 7.5 and 8.5 o Grade 8 passages will range between 8.5 and 9.5

8. Skim Strategy Called 1 minute skim technique. Skimming is a skill that is taught. Technique used to get a quick “gist” of a passage. Skimming is not to necessarily comprehend all that is being read, but rather to familiarize yourself with the passage as quickly as possible. Skimming allows your subconscious the chance to absorb the main ideas of a text. The combination of skimming first and reading second allows you greater comprehension of what you are reading. Gets students in a zone of what the passage is about. This is a better use of time for the time limit. Skimming is not intended to replace actual reading. Its intention is to familiarize yourself with the test

9. One Minute Skim Strategy One minute skim strategy for DRP Skim the passages quickly. Then, go back to read and fill in answers. How to use the one minute skim strategy in your classroom… 1.Start with a lower grade passage to build confidence. 2.Have students skim passages or pieces of writing and have a quick discussion. What did you get out of the passage during the skim? 3.Could practice this with small groups. 4.Could use actual DRP handouts. Delete the answer choices and have the students skim the passage followed by a discussion on what they got out of the passage. Then read and discuss the answer choices they generated to fill the blank. 5. To teach the skim technique: Model and follow with guided practice then independent practice.

10. At this point, go for depth and focus on key instructional strategies… Inferring Main Idea Summarizing

11. How Does Summarizing Promote CMT Success? Summarizing is putting together important information while reading and disregarding irrelevant information. To summarize students must be able to… Identify important ideas and information in order to put together larger ideas. (both long and short texts) Organize important information in summary form. Construct summaries that are concise and reflect the important ideas and information in the text.

12. How Does Main idea and Detail Promote CMT Success? Understand the text Comprehend the overall “big” idea Identify the “big idea” Put the “big idea” in their own words Identify details to support the main idea.

13. How Does Inferring Promote CMT Success? Inferring = Going beyond the literal meaning of the text to think about what is not stated but implied. Student friendly: Prior knowledge (what you already know) adding it to what you read and coming up with a conclusion. Identify significant events and tell how they are related. Infer the big ideas or themes. Infer causes of problems or of outcomes in fiction and nonfiction. So much more but limited it to the most general for CMT purposes.

14. http://www.csde.state.ct.us/p ublic/cedar/assessment/cmt/ cmt_gen4_resources.htm Performance level descriptors for reading by grade Levels of understanding that correlates to the vertical scale score Understanding the standard and MAS DRP scores.